Well, it’s been a good amount of time since I have posted. Even though I try very hard not to have long spells of not posting, I definitely have a good reason for it happening this time around.

I married my long time girlfriend/fiance/love of my life at the end of September. We were married on an 80 degree Saturday in Connecticut surround by all of our close friends and family. We really couldn’t have asked for a better day. Things went off without much of a hitch and everyone that was there had a great time. Then, we jetted off for two weeks in Hawaii for our honeymoon. A trip that I will definitely not forget any time soon. What an experience! From the sights, to the food, to the culture, to even the beer. If you have never been out there I HIGHLY recommend getting out there while you can. It has to be one of the most beautiful places in the world.

Well since this is a beer blog, let me take you through the many beers that I was able to have throughout this two and a half weeks of wedding and honeymoon fun. Unfortunately, the venue that we chose did not have a very extensive list of beers to choose from on tap or in bottle. The bar had three tap lines, one dedicated to Guinness (it was an irish venue), Bud Light and a rotating seasonal tap. We had been told that typically during the time when our wedding was scheduled, they would have Sam Adams Oktoberfest on tap. I don’t drink a lot of Sam anymore but I do enjoy their Oktoberfest offering. Well, when we went in for one last meeting before the wedding, they told us that they will now have Shipyard Pumpkinhead on tap instead. My wife was ecstatic since she is a big pumpkin beer lover. Needless to say, I stayed consistent by ordering Amstel in bottles through my wedding day. I figured I would get something with flavor but not something with too much alcohol so I could keep trucking the entire, long, long day. The night before we left, I was lucky enough to get a bottle of Sam Adams Brewleywed Ale from a friend that works for the company. I figured it would fit nicely into the theme of the next couple weeks and it is a brew that is brewed once a year to celebrate the lovely event of marriage. It was a light gold ale with just enough spice to mix it up a little bit. Nice and light it was a great night cap after a long weekend.

Once we got to Hawaii and I knew we would be exploring three islands, Maui, Kauai and Oahu, that I wanted to try and sample as much of the Hawaiian beer culture as possible. From what I did know, Hawaii had two major breweries, Maui Brewing Company and Kona Brewing Company. This still remained true as I got there. I came across one smaller brewery/restaurant but otherwise, it was all about Maui and Kona. Which I was perfectly fine with.

One of our first nights in Maui, I asked my new wife if we could have dinner at the Maui Brewing Company brewpub. Being the great woman that she is, she agreed. We enjoyed a flight of some of their offerings and we pleasantly surprised by the food that they offered. Usually this isn’t the case with brewpubs.

Throughout the rest of our trip it was a steady dose of Kona and Maui. It was great to see it on tap almost everywhere we went and even offered our our snorkeling trip. It is great to see the local breweries being supported throughout the state. Though, we all know that Kona can be found throughout the country due to contracts with distributors, but to the small state of Hawaii, you want to support everything local. That was one common thread I found throughout my time there, support local. That is something that stretches across the Pacific and should be done throughout the country. Support and drink local.